watch landmark cases live monday. order theckground, companion book. additional resource, there is a link on our website to the interactive constitution. on politics and race relations coming up at 4:30. until then, part of today's washington journal. the media host for the fox news channel and the latest book the war over the truth. good morning. can you connect the dots between those two things. guest: i'm trying to say the

scorched earth warfare going on between the two sides. there is a national adversarial tengion -- tension. you never seen anything like this. it never seen such unrelenting negative coverage. -- we have never seen such unrelenting negative coverage. never seen a president of the united states constantly on the attack on the media. my great concern is that as a lifelong journalist is that it is damaging the breast. host: hout -- it is damaging the press. host: how has the coverage it changed -- changed? the pundits as a whole at first the not take donald trump seriously. he would never have won the nomination if everyone knew he

was not going to be hillary clinton. -- beyond that, there were all these gloom and doom. we see that again now. there is a sense in the saystream press that some we cannot normalize donald trump's presidency. it tells you that they view him as unfit to rule. they view him as -- unhinged. mentally unbalanced, incompetent. it is interesting the range of descriptions. at the same time, this is a book that goes behind the scenes of the trump white house. i talked about how the president suffers from defiance disorder. hlm not to do something -- they tell him not to do something and he does anyway. there are times when he goes too

far or distracts from his own agenda. host: you tell a story in the book about meeting donald trump. he said things you about how he views negative coverage. guest: i interviewed the now president. i first met him in the 1980's in new york. that is one of the reasons i underestimated him. what he said to meet was he cannot get over the fact that some commentators had a hatred for him. use that word. -- he used that word. at the same time, he was kind of wounded by that. wants -- he always got good media coverage when he was a businessman. he met with private anchors. he said his biggest surprise was that you guys never changed your

coverage once i became president. all the major events of his presidency, the charlottesville tragedy -- he is just convinced he is not getting a fair shake. he meets privately with nbc's chuck todd because there is a way in which she -- in which she works them. host: is a donald trump is staking his presidency on nothing less than destroying the credibility of the media. the media are determined to do the same thing to him. -- it turns is now out to be good box office for major news organizations. organizations are appealing to an anti-trump audience. there is a whole section of the country who voted for this president.

to them, not only do they think that their guy is being treated unfairly, but they believe the elite media look down on them. they view them condescendingly. there was one headline and the huffington post, a vote for trump was a hate crime. that kind of condescending attitude does undercut the credibility of the media. guest.oward kurtz, our he is the host on the fox news channel and the author of media madness. if you want to ask them (202)ons, you can call 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8002 four independents. host: does president trump enjoy a relationship with a media that

speaks favorably about them? guest: i have some thoughts about that. he told me that fox was treating him unfairly. there are number of prominent --servative commentators people in the national review who were never in the campaign but still critical of the president. even though he was -- he is a conservative republican president, he does not enjoy a cheering squad on the right. at the same time, the president sometimes -- when he is pushing back against the media, i think he should not be hunting down an individual cable news host. sometimes he does this as a strategy to take the spotlight off of something else. it is actually good politics for him. the place very well with his most loyal supporters.

this is of trust -- been happening for decades long before donald trump. he is eroding a business that i love and that i want to be perceived as fair. right now, the cool thing to do is to be against donald trump. is he going to survive? ac mentally able to handle this office? -- is he mentally able to handle this office? host: what happened to the next president after donald trump syntel it's -- what happens to the next president after donald trump's influence? guest: some of the wounds are one-sided. --are not agreeing

iatever is being done now, believe is going to last far beyond donald trump's presidency. host: joe is in new york. you are on with howard kurtz. i just want to say i watch your show every sunday. you are the enemy. you have -- you are the academy -- you are the epitome. the wheat -- the reason i called is that fox has been stressing about this uranium one incident. the president has mentioned it. senator john barrasso wrote in an article of the opinion section of the wall street journal which discusses this whole thing. it would be great if you could have the senator on your show. possibly pager could bring up

the article. pedro couldpossibly bring up the article. guest: i do not think there is any question as someone who has covered this campaign intensively. there was a lot of influence and attempted influence peddling. at the same time, i'm not saying none of this should be looked at. hillary clinton lost the election. some people who excessively focus on her are in part trying to deflect attention. if had about a year of investigations -- we have had about a year of investigations. we do not know where this will end up. that focus on the investigation seems not to have unearthed a whole lot.

it is not a hoax. there been indictments raised recently -- most recently on the russians. i think is important to be fair in covering this investigation. at the same time, we should not be seen as hyping every incremental development. line frompendent north carolina. say,r: yes, i just want to howard you do a great job. the reason i watch fox news is that they tell the truth. watchlike a lie when you another station. i believe in fox news because they tell the truth. like hannity, i love hannity.

he is so awesome. i just want to say keep it up. you do a great job. i know your heart is in the media. we look for you. we know you tell the truth. the russian media does not tell the truth. were also complicit in that racism and fascism, such as a wall street journal reporter

after their president pulled out of the u.s. paris -- the paris climate deal that he was threatening the planet to base.e his sean spicer called and he deleted that tweet. host: she sees the truth but points of opinion. does that concern you? most readers and who consume information online are sophisticated. people have a natural tendency to like people who agree with your worldview. maddowwho like rachel are likely very liberal. she is a rhodes scholar.

there is a tribal loyalty, hyper bart -- hyper partisan media atmosphere. and is true at cnn, msnbc, "the new york times," where are people who are in the business of trying to be fair and balanced and those that are conservative, liberal, libertarian giving opinions. pedro, i don't believe anything that this man is spouting out. donald trump is a bigot, a racist, a narcissist, and a klansman. i don't believe anything coming out of the mouth of the republican party. host: since we have our guest right here, why don't you address a comment or question directly to him?

are you there? for eight years, we as democrats had to sit here and listen to the republican party doubt our president obama. let me tell you something and it will be a new day in 2018 because every black, every brown, every democrat will go up this mand show who is here and try to glorify trump -- host: since years is our guest, we will try not to vilify him. have [indiscernible] i think he had a pretty easy first term. he got a lot of coverage in the second term when congress had trouble getting things through and was checkmated on areas like syria.

the color, there is a lot of people who feel that way. donald trump is a polarizing president. there are people who absolutely love the guy. they think he says it like it is, is a straight shooter guy, and there are people who think he never should have been president and are offended by the fact he is in office. media areiews of the viewed through that prism. if you think donald trump is a good or great president, you will not like a lot of the coverage in several news organizations. if you think trump is a terrible president, you will not be a fan of fox's coverage annual like -- and won't like his liberal attackers. there is a lot of reporting in this book, not just about the media,, how the president deals with the media, but also about his dealings with his staff who engage in a lot of self-destructive leaks.

i try to stick to the facts. i know everyone has opinions. that is healthy. to virginia, republican line. mark, go ahead. caller: good morning. i love your show. whenever find up-to-date info on the ratings. it is like they flip a switch on the coverage. i would like to know how many folks have left and moved over to fox. a woman commented that she loved the opinion asked -- opinionists, which i love, too,

but when they show something that is illegal, they may not like what they are hearing, but at least they are telling you exactly what was done wrong and who did it wrong. how could anybody ignore those facts? they ignore it and show you violations that were never done? guest: there is an irony in the trump presidency and you talk about ratings. msnbc was struggling a few short .ears ago it is having ratings, probably the highest in the history of that channel. fox news ratings are also up. taking a moreat skeptical, aggressive, sometimes negative, sometimes unfair approach to president trump, it has helped the other two. the new york times come a the president called the failing of

the quote new york times." hometown paper that is sort of a love-hate relationship. post"ashington subscriptions are up. it is an increasingly ugly battle, but some of them are called mines, -- gold mines. they present a fat target for him. a growing portion of the country does not trust him. change with his television career and how he treated the media? guest: donald trump has had an intuitive feel for how to make news in the new york market. i even covered his divorce from ivana. i remember calling him during that time. i was the out-of-town reporter

for "the washington post." you get a few soundbites. donald trump knows a controversy sales. even when he is getting beat up, he knows that negative coverage helps this president. it sounds counterintuitive. who wants to get beat up? or when the president is getting beat up on his handling of just about anything -- emigration, -- these things dominate the news cycle. every story is about attacking trump. at news hits back, organizations and coverage, that extends the news coverage. happens and was true in the campaign, too. he gained hundreds of enemies. even when they were beating up on him, he is dominating the news agenda. that is important, even when you

are the president, even when you have that big illegal. -- that big bully pulpit. the russia investigation, he is saying i have been much tougher on russia than obama. look at the facts. talk about twitter and how it has changed the reporting on this president. guest: at 6:00 in the morning, he has already tweeted. i go get a sandwich and get back in the world has changed because he has tweeted. he wants to communicate directly with his people. do i think that sometimes he goes too far, that he should not be giving disparaging that makes -- nicknames to opponents and journalists? he did that with someone on msnbc. sometimes he does it to distract, as i mentioned earlier. but it is not something that

will -- kellyanne conway and the rest, they know this is part of who he is. at times.ed it down inevitably, something kick some off. this whole tweet storm over the weekend in response to the indictment of the 13 russians very much had to do with the president initially got a lot of criticism. he said i have done more against rush appeared what he has not done is say that this is a terrible attack against our country. he had to hit back hard on twitter. the formalard about press conferences this president has had. how do they compare with the previous administration? it press you measure conferences, very little. he has done basically one, far fewer than any other president. journalists fully privately and statistical back this up, donald

trump actually provides reporters, reporters he does not particularly like, with more access than barack obama and maybe more access the many previous presidents. he is stopping to take questions and will answer a couple questions at a photo op. photographers say they have more access to this president. then there is the off the record part. chuck todd has had several off the record meetings with the president. they starts is yelling about what is said or something that is reported. chuck yells back. turns to the communications director and says, we just cannot quit each other. host: rochester, new york, independent line. hello. guest: good morning. i used to watch fox and msnbc.

i would skip the opinion people. i think both sides tell the truth. they just emphasize different stories that may suit their worldview or philosophy. you switch from one channel to another, and you do not hear anything about what the other people are saying. that i stopped watching the cable news, and my life is so much better. i do not miss it at all. .his makes everybody crazy despite what president trump says, they will be on that for half an hour. host: thank you. appreciate it. guest: there are people who are turned off from the contentious and sometimes polarizing nature of cable news. era seemin the truck so polarized -- politics and the trump era seem so polarized

there are days when i may not turn on the tv just to get a break. i understand people maybe wanting to watch c-span instead. earlier point, i do notice and sometimes talk about this in my columns on foxnews.com or my program, that if a story is favorable to president trump, it may get more play on certain channels and very little on others. and you flip it, negative story may go wall-to-wall, particularly in primetime. there will be an investigative 8:00 atound 7:30 or night and then will be online the next day. msnbc will pretty much go wall-to-wall to talk about it. fox made you with a somewhat differently. consumer.rmed do not just stay in a bubble. see with the other side is